Courtney’s act such a drag
really good show. Act blasts through disco numbers then changes to a shimmering Hollywood gown for the power ballads. Finally in a jaw-dropping rhinestone corset she goes full on sexy for AC/DC and Kylie.
Courtney is a proper diva when she sings, with a real raw emotional vulnerability in her voice. And she reminds us life is not always easy for a boy dressed as a girl, in a world of Trump and the Aussie marriage equality debate.
She’s a tough cookie, but she’s had to be. She’s also an entertainer who gives her all. She tells the audience she has fallen in love with Edinburgh and lists the shows she’s seen which just makes us love her even more.
She could do more of the personal stuff and less Australian trivia but this is only an introduction and I’m sure that we will see Courtney Act in Edinburgh again.
At the end, the queue for selfies stretches halfway across the Meadows. CLAIRE SMITH
0 Courtney Act: Full-on megawatt drag queen glamour thing to wrap their collective vocal talents around.
A potted Maori military history, tracing the journey from tribal to colonial conflict, elicits a Maori march and a tender Polynesian lament but such intriguing insights into their music and culture are diluted by the rest of their middle-of-the-road material. FIONA SHEPHERD Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) JJJ It seems appropriate that Jayde Adams begins with a homage to Forrest Gump, because Jayded is every bit like a box of chocolates – elegantly packaged, full of surprises but these vary greatly in appeal, with your preference probably depending on how much you like your comedy to embrace confessional storytelling or musical theatre.
Adams relates her rootless existence up until she blagged her way into a comedy career, a succession of broken friendships and general lack of direction.
As rambling and disordered as her life, the show is full of self-recrimination and score-settling – only the musical set-pieces, her bellicose charisma and mighty singing voice keeping it from growing too downbeat. The oppressive undertones are belatedly lifted with the introduction of her best friend, who set her on the path to where she is today, even if Adams is still finding her feet as a performer. This is a patchy showcase for a multi-talented act once again trying to find her métier. JAY RICHARDSON Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) JJJ There’s a certain heaviness attached to grief, which can make even lifting your head off the pillow a challenge. So New Perspectives Theatre has found the perfect item of furniture for this tender tale of bereavement: a bed. When performer Phoebe Frances Brown lies curled up on it, we can see that facing the world is just too much for her. But it’s also the perfect vehicle for taking us back in time to happier days.
Brown plays Jane, a young woman mourning the death of her grandma – the woman she spent every summer holiday with, staying in the same hotel on the Isle of Wight. We join her in Room 17 reminiscing about happy times.
There’s little here to shake things up theatrically, nor enough emotional intensity to punch you in the gut, but Finding Nana is absorbing and enjoyable nonetheless. KELLY APTER